I. ˈswȯ(ə)rm, -ȯ(ə)m noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English swearm; akin to Old High German swaram swarm, Old Norse svarmr tumult; probably akin to Old Norse svarra to swarm, Middle Low German swirren to whir, buzz, Latin susurrus hum, murmur, Old Slavic svirati to whistle, Sanskrit svarati he sounds, resounds
1. : a great number of honeybees emigrating together from a hive in company with a queen to start a new colony elsewhere ; also : a colony of honeybees settled in a hive
2.
a. : a great often overwhelming number usually in motion and especially migratory : a dense moving crowd or throng
a swarm of butterflies
a swarm of meteorites
a swarm of local peasants crowded around our roped-off space — Christopher Rand
specifically : a horde seeking a new home
a swarm of barbarians erupted from the steppes
b. archaic : a group of eels
c. : an aggregation of free-floating or free-swimming unicellular organisms — usually used of zoospores
d. : a considerable number of similar geologic features or phenomena occurring close together in space or time
a swarm of dikes
an earthquake swarm
e. : an aggregation of molecules (as those responsible for cybotactic effects) in a liquid — compare cybotaxis
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English swarmen, from swarm (I)
intransitive verb
1.
a. of bees : to collect together and depart from a hive in a body to form a new colony — compare afterswarm
b. : to escape in a swarm (as from a sporangium) usually with a typical vibrating movement : move about actively previous to or following such escape
2.
a. : to migrate, move, or assemble in a crowd : throng together : move in throngs
rural population swarmed into the industrial towns — Roger Burlingame
customers swarmed before the … meat counters — Clyde Hostetter
b. : to occur or exist in great numbers : be extremely numerous
venomous species swarmed among the grass tussocks — C.L.Barrett
c. : to hover about or move irresistibly in the manner of a bee in a swarm
had taken place … with monseigneur swarming within a yard or two — Charles Dickens
the little boy … just swarming around me — William Faulkner
d. : to cover or infuse an area
the exhilaration swarming over my face — Allen Tate
this tropical jungle swarms over the slopes of a mountain — Lawrence & Sylvia Martin
3. : to contain a vast number and especially moving throngs : be alive : teem
the big blue station wagon … forced its way down the swarming boulevard — Barnaby Conrad
— usually used with with
gently rolling fields … swarming with wild Canada geese — American Guide Series: Maryland
transitive verb
1. : to fill with a swarm : cause to teem
myriads of small marine insects that swarmed the ocean — H.J.Wolfe
men will swarm the decks — T.O.Heggen
2. : to induce (a colony of bees) to swarm
III. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: origin unknown
intransitive verb
: to engage in climbing especially hand over hand : shin
two little tads … having a good time swarming over the logs — Helen Eustis
swarm up a mast
transitive verb
: to climb up : mount